Ten Roses
by angstkitten
Summary: 10 little oneshot things, each revolving around a different character from the SK cast. No relations to one another, and only two, count ’em: 2, commonalities: 1. the roses and 2. the romance. Slash and het, and some graphic blood decriptions. incest in 1
1. Rose 1

I don't own Shaman King, Hao, Yoh, Anna, or HoroHoro. warning: this chapter involves incest.

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Rose 1: For Love

Passions are blinding to any and all to fall under their spell. A passion for another living being is the most hypnotic of all. But he could never be pulled under. Never brought to his knees for someone. There was no one to be dragged down for. No one he loved or cared about in all the world. Throughout all time.

Through three life times he went on, unloving and unloved. Until he was born beside another. Upon their first several meetings he had no interest in Yoh except for their eventual union for his rule of the world. But when the time came, to take his soul and make himself whole once more, for total domination, he found himself unable.

He had fallen captive to his brother, and his heart, when all thought it to be charred, cold and dark, suddenly burned for Yoh's touch. And Hao let it all go.

He gave up his quest to destroy all humanity for his brother, wondering and hoping if this decision could somehow bring them together while knowing that it never could and that a relationship between them would be considered an atrocity. Hao watched Yoh and the others from a distance, far from them, his heart yearning to be nearer.

Every time Hao saw Yoh smile at the others, his heart seemed to bleed a little. And whenever that smile was for Anna, tears began to well in his eyes. Hao knew he had no chance that Yoh would ever come to him. To hold and love him. Hao knew it was all a fantasy when, as he lay awake in bed late into the night, he imagined Yoh's knock at the door, his voice in the house, his lips against Hao's chest.

But he was blinded by his passion for Yoh. And he hated the fact. He hated any inkling that he had an emotional chain to the world. He considered, several times, of ending his life and reincarnating himself once more. To pass on to the next tournament and begin his reign in another five hundred years. But he couldn't bear the thought to leave while Yoh was on the earth, whether he was with Hao or not.

And so the months became years, and Hao continued to watch. His twentieth birthday dawned, and he expected to find nothing to remind him of the fact. But when he opened his door to look out at the mess of a lawn he kept, he found a single rose on the doorstep. He stared down at it before crouching and picking it up, examining it carefully.

The stem was a simple green with the thorns customary to all roses sticking off it in uneven spacing. The petals were large and had a velvet feeling to them as they gently brushed his cheek. They were a deep red, like fresh blood, and a dew drop slipped off of one, landing with a small 'plip' on the doorstep.

Hao looked at it in wonder, not knowing who could have put it here. He carefully removed the small tag on the stem and read it: _"For Love" _was all it said, and Hao scanned the street, looking for whomever could have left it. He saw no signs of anyone, and slowly turned around and back into his house, closing the door softly behind him. He put the rose into a glass of water, dressed, and went out to find a proper vase.

Hao returned home, a thin, crystal vase in hand that, supposedly, would keep any plant alive for months. Reaching the steps, he saw two more roses, both as red as the first. He lifted them from the concrete stoop and read the notes attached to these.

_"Love Outlives Everything"_, said the first. Hao smiled slightly, wondering who these flowers could be coming from. The third rose made his heart stop momentarily. _"Meet Me at the Park at Midnight"_.

Hao hurried into the house and quickly put the flowers away. Glancing at the clock, he saw he had nine hours. So he started getting busy.

Hao showered for the first time in days, washed his pants and cloak and then sat, watching the clock for three hours before drifting to sleep.

When he woke up, everything was pitch black. He jumped up and grabbed the nearest clock. It was eleven fifty-four. Hao raced out of the house and towards town, knowing there was no way he could make it in six minutes.

He raced up to the park, breathing heavily, as another figure stood from a bench and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Hao called out, his voice slightly strangled by his gasps for air, as he tripped over a swing, ending up on his head. He heard a quiet snort, and the figure walked towards him as Hao tried to correct himself.

Hao got onto his back and found himself looking up into their face. A hand was stretched out to him and he took it, getting himself to his feet.

The first thing Hao noticed was that this person was much shorter than he was. They looked at one another a moment, Hao unsure who this person was, until they spoke.

"Did you like them?" a young, male voice asked.

"Yes," Hao said, uncertain. The boy chuckled.

"I thought you would. It's your favorite, right?" Hao nodded numbly. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"No," Hao whispered. He laughed again, pulling back the hood of the jacket he was wearing. Powder blue hair hung around his eyes. Hao gasped sharply. The young shaman smiled.

"How about now?"

"HoroHoro…right?" The boy nodded.

"Yeah. You were a little late. I thought you were world renowned for your punctuality," HoroHoro joked.

"No, it was because of my vow to destroy the earth. But, yes, I'm usually more punctual than I was tonight," Hao answered. "I fell asleep."

"Ah. Of course. Well, what did you think of your gifts?"

"I thought they were nice. The notes were cute. Did you come up with those yourself?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. But I could tell by your reaction, I'm not who you hoped was sending them, am I right?" Hao nodded reluctantly, not wanting to hurt the young ice shaman. HoroHoro smiled brightly. "Good. Maybe you'll appreciate the one who got notes for twelve-thirty more." HoroHoro glanced at his watch as Hao stared in wonder. "I'm going to go. He should be here soon, but knowing him, he'll be late." Hao watched as he walked away, calling over his shoulder, "Good luck!"

Hao sat on the swing he had fallen over and began wringing his hands and silently praying that HoroHoro knew what he was doing for once in his life. Forty minutes later, a fog was beginning to rise around Hao's ankles, and there was still no sign of the other person. Hao was getting tired of waiting and starting to shiver, his teeth chattering quietly, when the mystery person HoroHoro had promised walked up.

Hao looked up into his eyes, both of them seeing a set of chocolate irises. They both looked at the other, until the newcomer whispered so softly that Hao nearly didn't catch it.

"Hao?" He nodded, a smile on his face. Yoh bent down, throwing his arms around his brother. "Oh, I knew it was you. I knew it just had to be!" He gently kissed Hao's cheek, and Hao returned it, thinking that it was unimportant for him to know who had really set this up, as their lips met one another's.

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	2. Rose 2

I also don't own Ren or Yoh.

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Rose 2: Unrequited

He walks down the empty streets, hollow inside. Even if the town were alive and buzzing, he wouldn't know, lost to his own miseries. He is alone in his home, his life, and his love. He has nothing and no one.

Everyone close has gone, everything dear, destroyed. He had hung on for so long, clinging to the possibility that the one person he needed had survived the disaster. But mere days ago he found him.

Ren's body has been left lying where he died, his neck broken and head turned completely backwards. His spine is snapped in four different places, and his legs nearly ripped away. One arm is gone, lying several feet from the rest of him, and the hand on his other is shattered.

He has seen hundreds of bodies lying about the city after the massacre, many worse off than Ren, but many in much better shape as well. But nothing has prepared him for finding him that way.

Ren has been beaten to death. The crown of the skull smashed, and the jaw dislocated. Not a single bullet has touched him. Those shot are among the easiest to look at. They are mostly babies and elderly people, which makes it harder to look, but they were all killed swiftly and nearly painlessly. Young men and women were beaten, but some were shot, Yoh can only presume, while trying to protect their loved ones. But others were shot just to shoot them.

Yoh sees several lines of men against buildings, shot to pieces, for mere sport. Most women he sees, and every child between four and twelve, were raped. Most were then beaten, the bruises show, and some shot.

Yoh can barely stand to see the city in this state, but now stares through blank eyes, seeing nothing of these ruins. Days pass and he grows thinner as he digs. He goes back to Ren's mangled body and carries it back to the hole. He gently drops him in, a dark rose, the shade of night, following, and says a few words, cursing himself for the love he never spoke of to him. For forcing it to remain unrequited. For refusing to try.

He lifts a gun discarded on the ground, and puts it against his own head. He pulls the trigger once. Twice. Three times, but hears nothing other than a quiet click. He squeezes twice more, rapidly, wondering where the damn bullet is- BANG!

The fifth try brings it through, shattering his skull and sending his brains onto the ground behind him.

Yoh's lifeless body falls into the grave with Ren, and the two remain there until their bodies become the earth.

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	3. Rose 3

I don't own Manta, Yoh, Anna, or Ryu.

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Rose 3: Cornered 

My heart beat faster as the night wore on, the darkness surrounding me. Suffocating me. My breathing became uneven, and tears formed in my eyes. Shadows cast across the room, terrifying me. But soon morning dawned, and I became calm and safe.

I hated, and still do hate, the dark. It isn't that I fear the blackness, but the unseen. The unknown. I never scream because it doesn't help. Besides, no one's ever home to help even if screaming could get them to come to me.

No one ever knows the fear I feel at night when I'm alone. I'm so small, and jump at such simple things to Yoh and Anna. The only nights I sleep well through are those when I'm near Yoh or Ryu. Just their presence in the room, lying beside me, tells me that I'm safe. That there's nothing to fear with them to protect me. And I know they both would.

I hate feeling like a burden to them, but I need them.

One night, I was staying with Ryu and, after some tossing and turning, my mind filled with thoughts, I fell asleep rather easily. But in the middle of the night I awoke from a dream. It was horrible, but as I sat up, wiping away the tears, I had no idea what it had been about. I laid back down, sniffing quietly, and faced where Ryu's futon was. But he wasn't there.

Suddenly, the shadows began to press around me again andtears trekked down my cheeks. I told myself I was being ridiculous. He would come back any minute, but my breathing began to come in ragged gasps. I buried my face in my pillow so he wouldn't hear my sobs, but the next thing I remember was him pulling me up into a hug, telling me it was all right and I had no reason to cry.

The tears stopped nearly immediately, and he put me back down, asking what was wrong. And so I told him about my sourceless and stupid fear of the dark. But he assured me that it was alright. It's a common fear, which I already knew that, and that he would find a way that I could always feel safe.

A week later, he picked me up after school. This wasn't quite a rare event, but it didn't happen every day. When he dropped me off at home he handed me a flower. I stared at it a moment. It was a rose. It was as white as freshly fallen snow and had the most beautiful scent I could ever have imagined. I looked back at him, and he smiled.

"Keep that in your room, and I'll always be there to protect you. I promise. If it starts to wilt, tell me, and I'll bring you another," he said quietly.

"Thank you," I whispered. "This is the sweetest thing I think anyone's done for me."

"That rose represents everything I see in you. It's pure and perfect, just as you are. The only difference is that the flower has been cut. It's life has already passed, while you are still blooming." I smiled broadly, and he rode off for home.

That night, and every night after, I kept the new white roses on my bedside table and the old ones locked away, being pressed in books to be put into a scrapbook of some sort later.

As time passed the flowers grew to mean more for me, and I told Ryu so when he gave me one, months after the first. In the end, I told him that I thought I loved him, blushing brightly, and feeling nervous. But he smiled and said that he would always be there for me. We kissed gently, and it was wonderful. After that, I kissed the rose every night, its petals having almost the same silky feeling his lips did.

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	4. Rose 4

I don't own Tamao, Yoh, Pirika, or Anna.

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Rose 4: With Contentment 

Tamao walked outside, a large basket in tow, and began the long walk to town. As she passed along the path, she paused at the garden she had recently begun. There was a wide variety of flowers, and she would have called it beautiful, except that they were all the same color: yellow. There were buttercups, sunflowers, tulips and others, but her favorites were the roses. Each one was the golden color of the sun shining brightly down on them.

She sighed, remembering that Yoh had suggested them. She knew that everyone thought she loved him, and it was true; she did love him, but as a friend rather than how everyone else believed she did. She had lived with the Asakura's for nearly her entire life. Yoh was a dear and close friend of hers. But no one would believe the truth.

She really had no physical interest in Yoh or anyone for that matter. She had always felt impartial to whether men or women were more attractive; she didn't care either way. The thought of a physical relationship chilled her and put a nauseous feeling in her stomach.

Tamao bent down and picked a buttercup that had bloomed as far as it could in the early sunshine, and continued her way to town for shopping. While she was out, she met Pirika and the two girls walked and shopped together, talking about this or that, but nothing of any sort of serious consequence. Tamao left Pirika as it began to get late, giving her the flower she had picked that morning.

That night Tamao had the hardest time getting to sleep, unable to push Pirika from her mind, but once she did, it was the best sleep in her memory. The next morning they met in the market again, and this time Pirika produced a flower. It was a sprig of china blue forget-me-nots. Tamao thanked her graciously and then the two went their own ways.

Anna saw the flower that evening and asked who it had come from.

"Oh, just a special someone," Tamao answered, smiling. She made a note to put the seeds in her garden for some contrast. The third day Tamao gave Pirika a golden tulip and Pirika gave her a bluebell. And so their days went for weeks blending into months. A year passed, and then more time. Tamao was watching her roses, waiting for the right one to bloom the right way.

Finally, just as the season began to close, the perfect rose presented itself. Tamao carefully took it from the bush, pricking herself and dripping a little blood onto the petals of the surrounding blooms.

At the market that morning, the girls gently kissed one another's cheek as they shook hands, the most intimate thing either was comfortable with. Tamao produced the rose, and Pirika thought it was beautiful.

Red faced and stuttering, Tamao shyly asked, "Pirika, w-would you like to, p-please, m-marry me?" Pirika stared at Tamao, and then smiled brightly, squealing in joy, and threw her arms around Tamao's neck.

"Of course!" she exclaimed.

Months passed and the wedding came. Years flew by and they lived happily with contentment filling both their hearts. The two young women were never more intimate than a hug and peck through their entire lives together, but loved one another immensely forever.

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	5. Rose 5

I don't own Ren, Jun, Yuan, Ran, HoroHoro or Pirika.

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Rose 5: Always Alone

I stared out the window, a chill draft drifting through the empty rooms of the old and creaking building, and I shivered. I sat on the bed, blankly watching nothing. I had no sheets or pillows or blankets in the room. Nothing but the bare bed, a cracked mirror, the window that gave me a view of a distant city's skyline, and myself.

My arms wrapped around my knees, tucked against my empty stomach, starved in that hollow life. My hair laid limp around me, but I refused to cry; to howl in the agony of living that way: barely.

I'd remained there, lost to myself for days, maybe weeks, just staring dully outside. No one knew I was there, and I had no intention of returning home. No one there cared about me; no one realized my pain and fear. And so I stayed there, with every thought to just die in that room.

But I saw the green leaves of the bush that had been growing outside, and realized it was wilting. I got to my feet for the first time in several hours. Stumbling slightly, I reached the bathroom and, after using the toilet, got a glass of water and took it to the plant. I poured it and two more glasses on its roots under the ground and tried to fluff the leaves. Beside it, I saw a small group of nuts, and I picked them up, bringing them into the room. I ate them, unable to stop myself or pace them out, devouring them within minutes.

A week passed and I continued watering the bush and eating nuts or berries I found, mostly near to the plant, but a few days I went out and looked for food, hardly able to stand the constant grind of my stomach. Soon the bush began to blossom and then bloom.

Dozens of roses met me in the morning, all a deep, but not dark, blue. I remained for more days, more weeks, wanting to watch them live out their lives, but they didn't wilt. I didn't understand why; they just stayed, undying. I considered going home finally, but doubted I had the strength to make the trip. A month passed, and I found myself running merely to run. I realized I _could_ make it home. And I should.

Someone must be worried; Mother or Jun. I returned to the roses once more and looked through them, touching them and pricking my fingers on every thorn they brushed. At last I found the perfect flower and plucked it carefully. As soon as it came away, the rest of the plant died, but the one in my hand seemed to open a little further, the blue to become a little brighter, and I gently held it as I started my long journey home.

I had come across a great water to get where I was. I traveled the mountains again, and as I reached the far north of the island, the country, I found the small village I passed on my way out. I walked down the streets, my hair hanging around me.

"Hey!" I heard someone call out. I glanced up to see a boy about my age running up to me. "I knew I'd see you again!" he said.

I stared at him, recognizing, but unable to remember his name; if he had told me when we first met. His blue hair was light and sprinkled white from the snow falling around us. He smiled broadly.

"Are you going home?" he asked. I nodded. "That's good! Have you been staying alone this whole time?"

I nodded once more, adding, "I'm always alone." His smile dropped slightly.

"Oh. Well, that sucks, huh? I'm _never_ alone, what with my little sister always tagging along."

"I don't see her now," I observed.

"Well, she's at a friends. I just dropped her off. I'll have to pick her up soon too."

"Oh," I said. After a moment of silence, I said I needed to leave, still holding the rose carefully. I began to walk away, the two of us waving goodbye, and just as I started to turn a corner, he called out, "When will I ever see you again?"

I turned around and walked back. I handed him the flower. "We will meet again, I promise. The day that rose wilts, we will meet once more." I gently kissed his cheek and walked away.

Years have passed since that day. I was nine, and he was nine. I don't know how long he kept that rose, or where he kept it. If he knew the day we met that we would meet. Or if his mother had thrown it out long before, or if Pirika or another friend had, whether accidentally or purposefully, torn it up. I don't know if he knew the moment he saw me that I was the boy from his memories; or if he still held those memories.

But the moment I met HoroHoro for the third time in my life, I knew it was him. And I wanted to cry; to hug him and tell him how much I'd missed him. But I couldn't. That wasn't me. Many things have changed in both of us since those first two meetings, but one thing never did.

I still love him, and I always will.

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	6. Rose 6

I don't own Anna, Yoh, Ren, Ryu, Manta or HoroHoro.

Rose 6: Together

Loneliness surrounds those who fear it most, but pretend to be impartial. They act as though they don't notice; don't care that they have no "friends". No one close, to wipe away tears or stop pain or put pressure on a wound that won't stop bleeding. A wound like their heart or soul, open and festering for the world around to see, but ignore. And they say they aren't lonely.

Anna Kyouyama believes she is one of those people. She turns her head, averting her gaze from everyone else's. Ignores the attempts at friendship from the others around her, telling herself that they don't care; they aren't there for her. And she believes she just pretends that they are there. But she's wrong.

She's full of loneliness, but she is never alone. Someone is always by her side, to lead her along the right path. But she ignores their light and stumbles along in her darkness. And only one of these trying to light her way see this.

He holds his lantern out to her, hanging it over her shoulder, trying desperately to bring her to him. But she refuses to come. He occasionally looses his way, not from the inability to read the road before him, though that plays its own part in every life, but because of his own lack of light, trying to help her.

He trips here and there, every so many paces. More often than Yoh or Ren, both uncannily gifted at picking their ways along life. Ryu steps through the world in long strides, but even with his height, he can't see very far down the road; but he doesn't try. Manta strains to see ahead, and sees plenty of possibilities, yet he can't seem to make his way to the ones he wants.

HoroHoro trips and stumbles and sometimes falls flat on his face, just to jump back up, brush off his shorts and trot to catch up with Anna; to hold his light for her. But she doesn't notice. She watches her own feet, merely putting one in front of the other, unaware of anything else around her…

"Anna?" he called, walking into the Inn. "Hello? Anybody home?" Anna sighed.

"What do you want?" she called back. HoroHoro stepped into the living room.

"Here you are!" he exclaimed. Anna repeated her question, annoyed. "Well, I know Yoh's gonna be gone for a coupla days, and I figured you were here alone. I thought you'd like some company."

"Well, you thought wrong. Please leave." He looked at her, fighting not to get lost in her cocoa colored eyes. He blinked several times, then walked over to her.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked.

"Trying not to kill you," she growled. "Get lost!"

HoroHoro stared at Anna before answering, "Oh, come on. You're all alone today!"

Anna stared blankly. "Just go before I get violent."

"You don't have to be violent," HoroHoro told her.

"I do to get anything done!"

He sighed. "All right, I'll leave. But you should consider letting somebody stay so you aren't completely alone today. Being lonely sucks." He stood and started towards the door, but stopped when Anna spoke again.

"Today? So I'm not alone '_today_'?" HoroHoro turned around. "I'm alone _every_ day. Do you not notice?"

"Anna, I notice more than anyone else that you're miserable. That you're lonely. But I don't know what you want. You _are_ surrounded by people all the time."

"But they don't care about me. No one tries to help," she whispered.

"Anna, yes they do. But you don't pay attention, so you don't realize it. But I'll leave, if you want."

"Yes. Just go!" she ordered, before she could start crying. HoroHoro left quickly, pausing outside and hearing her begin to sob. He sighed…

Anna walks blindly, stumbling further and further from her path, and HoroHoro follows, to try and help her, now just walking in her footsteps, going where she does. They trip over similar obstacles and are hit by the same tree branches. She doesn't know he's behind her; she doesn't warn him of anything ahead…

Two days later, Anna opened her bedroom window and found a white rose on the sill. She looked at it for a moment, then smiled and brought it in. She put it in a vase and opened the kitchen window to put it in the sun. There she found a golden rose. She added it to the vase, smiling slightly, unsure who had left these. As she continued to open windows, she found more and more roses on every sill. When they were all found, the bouquet was full of roses of every color she could picture them in; except red.

She stared at the flowers for a few minutes before walking to the door to get the paper. As her hand touched the knob, she realized she didn't get the paper that day, but she opened the door anyway.

There stood HoroHoro, smiling brightly and holding out another bouquet of roses, all the deepest red imaginable. He was expecting little more than for her to take the flowers and slowly warm up to him, if even that much, but what happened was beyond the wildest dreams he had dared allow himself to have.

The most beautiful smile burst across her face as her dark eyes met the light blue of his. She took the flowers in one hand and grabbed HoroHoro with the other, hauling both inside. She put away the flowers, her lips pressed strongly against his, and pulled him back to her bedroom where they made love four times before either spoke a proper sentence, the first coming from HoroHoro:

"Is that a yes to a date?" Anna merely nodded, pressing her lips to him again…

And now the two walk along the road, holding hands, guided by his light. They were always far from the paved street, but Anna has pulled them clear off of the rock-path, or even the somewhat beaten one. They have nothing to go by but their instincts, but they trust them as they walk along, together.

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